Dems continue to bash governor for Hispanic slur, call on him to fire staffers for 'bigotry'

Former Republican state Representative Ana Rivas Logan and Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chair Annette Taddeo joined in the party bashing of Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday and called on the governor to fire the staff whose anti-Hispanic slurs prompted his campaign finance chair to resign last week.

"Rick Scott’s campaign staff mocked Florida Hispanics like school children. That’s unacceptable from the people trying to elect a governor in one of the most diverse states in the nation,'' said Rivas Logan, now a Miami Democrat, in a conference call with reporters. "These anti-Hispanic comments are exactly the kind of comments that made up my mind to leave the Republican Party."

She criticized the governor for failing to apologize and move on and suggested that his passiveness "shows the culture of the campaign."

Rivas Logan urged the governor to fire the staff who allegedly made the offensive remarks mocking Hispanics. "He needs to take a stand on this,'' she said. "He needs to fire these people and hold them accountable and say that bigotry does not have a place in politics."

Lieutenant Gov. Carlos Lopez Cantera told reporters yesterday that the campaign believes "there's no validity that we can find to any of those comments, or what was written."

Taddeo commended the push this legislative session to give Dreamers the opportunity to pay in-state tuition rates at state universities and colleges but she chastised the governor for "window dressing" by supporting it.

"It's very obvious he doesn't support Dreamers,'' she said, noting the governor's push for the Arizona-style immigration reform bill when he ran for governor in 2010, his veto of a bill to allow immigrants to obtain state drivers licenses last year, and the cuts to the Bright Futures Scholarship program.

Rivas Logan recalled how Lopez Cantera met with Republican legislators when a version of the Arizona immigration legislation was moving in the House and Senate in 2011.

"I said, 'Carlos, my parents taught me you never forget where you came from,''' she said. She said by opposing the bill she was punished by leadership. "I said I will not support this bill and sanctions ensue....There were leaders willing to spill blood in the chambers to get it across the finish line."